Why can't we have a consumer organization that protects us from having to buy stuff that we don't want.
Wouldn't it be great if any product sold in mass quantities would have to pass a consumer/environment protection committee first?
Because of too much money from corporations in politics
You don't have to buy stuff you don't want.
You just can't buy the stuff you do want without it being bundled with stuff you don't want - the manufacturers have decided there's no market for it.
Evidently it's more profitable to persuade a large fraction of people that they are “consumers”, whose lives are a series of branded commercial experiences, than it is to cater to the unlucrative number of people who object.
As ever, the problem is consumerism.
Depriving people of TVs, phones and computers is not the solution. Redirecting them to the FOSS alternatives which are more expensive, have less features and are harder to use is also not a solution.
that's why I said "in mass quantities".
> ... don't have to rely on government agencies to enforce ...
Who's enforcing the mandate?